(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
How statistics lost their power – and why we should fear what comes next
统计数据是如何失去其力量的?为什么我们要担心接下来会发生什么
The ability of statistics to accurately represent the world is declining. In its wake, a new age of big data controlled by private companies is taking over – and putting democracy in peril
统计准确反映世界的能力正在下降
by William Davies
作者:威廉姆·戴维斯
In theory, statistics should help settle arguments. They ought to provide stable reference points that everyone – no matter what their politics – can agree on. Yet in recent years, divergent levels of trust in statistics has become one of the key schisms that have opened up in western liberal democracies. Shortly before the November presidential election, a study in the US discovered that 68% of Trump supporters distrusted the economic data published by the federal government. In the UK, a research project by Cambridge University and YouGov looking at conspiracy theories discovered that 55% of the population believes that the government "is hiding the truth about the number of immigrants living here".
理论上,统计数据应该有助于解决争论
Rather than diffusing controversy and polarisation, it seems as if statistics are actually stoking them. Antipathy to statistics has become one of the hallmarks of the populist right, with statisticians and economists chief among the various "experts" that were ostensibly rejected by voters in 2016. Not only are statistics viewed by many as untrustworthy, there appears to be something almost insulting or arrogant about them. Reducing social and economic issues to numerical aggregates and averages seems to violate some people's sense of political decency.
统计数据似乎并没有分散争议和两极分化,反而加剧了它们
词语解释
1.in peril 处于危险之中
The refugees were constantly in peril of death from hunger.
难民随时都有饿死的危险
2.antipathy 反感,厌恶
Striking a bilateral agreement would help bring an end to decades of trade antipathy.
达成一项双边协议将有助于终止持续几十年的贸易抵触
译文由可可原创,仅供学习交流使用,未经许可请勿转载 。